Surrounded by members of the Senate GOP caucus, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (C) speaks to reporters following the weekly Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol, on November 5, 2019, in Washington, DC.
Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty

Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., said Republicans in Congress quietly removed the term “white nationalist” from a defense bill amendment aimed at keeping white nationalists out of the military.

Aguilar introduced the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act in July in response to reports about the rise of white nationalists in the military. The House of Representatives approved the amendment, which was specifically aimed to screen military enlistees for white nationalist views.

The amendment sought to address white nationalists in the military by requiring the secretary of defense to “study the feasibility” of screening for “individuals with ties to white nationalist organizations.”

But the Republican-controlled Senate passed its own version of the bill and the term “white nationalist” was quietly removed when the two bills were reconciled, HuffPost reported.

The final version of the NDAA now […]